UF College of Dentistry Dean A. Isabel Garcia announced the appointment of Ana P. Dias Ribeiro, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D., as interim chair for the Department of Restorative Dental Sciences effective October 17, 2023, when Deborah Dilbone, D.M.D., steps down as chair after serving in that role for seven years in advance of her planned retirement in early 2024.
“I am grateful to Ana for stepping into this pivotal role who, with assistance from Deborah during the next few months, will be well prepared for this transition. I have no doubt that the important work of the department will continue without missing a beat,” Garcia said.
Dias Ribeiro earned her dental degree from the University of Brasilia, Brazil, in 2006 and her master’s degree, a certificate and a doctorate in oral rehabilitation from the Araraquara Dental School at Sao Paulo State University-UNESP in 2009 and 2012, respectively. Dias Ribeiro was a visiting periodontics research scholar in 2011 at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and became a tenured professor in the University of Brasilia’s Department of Dentistry in 2012 before joining UF in 2016 as a clinical assistant professor. She was promoted to clinical associate professor in July 2021.
In 2017, Dias Ribeiro was honored with one of the American Dental Education Association’s professional development scholarships for the ADEA/AAL Institute for Teaching and Learning. In September 2020, she was awarded the inaugural Marc Gale Term Professorship Award, a two-year professorship awarded to an operative faculty member who demonstrates leadership and innovation in teaching and contributes to the clinical instruction of the D.M.D. program. In May 2021, she was appointed interim director of the Division of Operative Dentistry, a division of the Department of Restorative Dental Sciences. Dias Ribeiro also served as director of Predoctoral Curriculum within the Office of Academic Affairs providing expertise during UFCD’s 2023 accreditation self study process. She is actively involved in dental materials research in the area of adhesives, caries management and minimally-invasive dentistry involving direct and indirect adhesive procedures. Dias Ribeiro also provides care in the college’s faculty dental practice.